Bits of feather and flesh buzz around this swarm of rotting ravens like flies, countless lifeless eyes staring out from the chaos.
Carrionstorm CR 1
XP 400
NE Tiny undead (swarm)
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +6
AC 12, touch 12, flat-footed 12 (+2 size)
hp 11 (2d8+2)
Fort +1, Ref +0, Will +5
Defensive Abilities swarm traits; Immune undead traits
Weaknesses vulnerable to channeled energy
Speed 10 ft., fly 40 ft. (good)
Melee swarm (1d6 plus distraction)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Str 1, Dex 11, Con â, Int 2, Wis 14, Cha 13
Base Atk +1; CMB â1; CMD 4 (can’t be tripped)
Feats Improved Initiative
Skills Fly +12, Perception +6
SQ pallid bond
A carrionstorm never initiates an attack on a creature that openly wears a holy symbol to an evil god or that is itself undead. If attacked first by such a creature, the carrionstorm’s swarm attack deals only 1d3 points of damage to that creature rather than the usual 1d6 points.
A carrionstorm takes 150% as much damage as normal from channeled positive energy.
Environment any near ghouls
Organization solitary, flock (2â4 swarms), or murder (5â12 swarms)
Languages Necril
Treasure none
Where the dead walk, the carrion birds follow. In most cases, the unfortunate birds that feast on the remains of fallen undead creatures simply grow diseased and die. Yet the flesh of some ghouls has an altogether different effect upon such scavengers, and when they die of the poisoned repast, they do not stay dead for long. Alone, an undead crow or vulture is little more than a hideous mockery, but in rare cases where ghoulish activity is thick, entire colonies of carrion birds can succumb to undeath, retaining their flock mentality yet no longer seeking the flesh of the freshly dead to sate their hunger. Carrionstorms, as these flocks of undead birds are called, find brief respite from their morbid hunger only when their meals are warm and screaming.
Carrionstorms are typically found near graveyards, haunted structures, or abandoned villages where ghouls have been active. Many necromancers and cultists have a particular fondness for carrionstorms, and since the birds have a strange respect for the symbol of the Pallid Princess, rookeries of them are often found roosting in the nooks of the goddess of undeath’s macabre cathedrals.
Pathfinder Adventure Path: Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition © 2012, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors: Wolfgang Baur, Stephen S. Greer, James Jacobs, Nicolas Logue, Richard Pett, and Greg A. Vaughan.